Saturday, August 15, 2009

from three days ago, I'm so far behind. Some general practice, trying out some cast loads, and I had a chance to shoot one of these,a Remington Model 24. It's made on the (You DO know who designed that, don't you?)[/Tam] Browning patent, and if you've never seen one, see that teardrop-shaped hole in the stock? You unlock and withdraw the magazine plunger tube from the butt, which opens the hole, and you drop the cartridges in there(11 long rifles), return the plunger to place, then cycle the bolt from the bottom of the receiver and begin firing; empties eject straight down.

It was the first time I'd ever fired one of these, and it's a damn nice little rifle. Light, handy, and very accurate; resting elbows on the bench I was getting about 1.5" groups at 50 yards, and that's with a tiny rear 'U' notch and a small front bead; with a scope or better irons I could have shrunk that. Clean, light trigger, too. I want one.

Did I mention that it breaks down? There's a latch at the rear of the barrel at the bottom; push it forward, retract the bolt a bit, rotate the barrel 1/4 turn and it comes out of the receiver. Reverse that, and it's back together. Damn nice piece of work.

The other piece I got to try was an old Iver Johnson 5-shot revolver in .38S&W(couldn't find a good picture right now). These were basic revolvers primarily made for self-defense, not at all fancy. Top-break, the barrel pivots to raise the cylinder to load and eject empties. Not as strong as design as the Webley; if you shoot one of these, make sure the thing is mechanically sound first. This one was fired with some light handloads, and proved to have a clean, slightly heavy single-action pull, and a somewhat heavy double-action; not helped by a small grip. These were pocket pistols, and as was common at the time has a thin, tall front blade and a tiny rear notch. This one shot a bit above point of aim at ten feet, either due to my hold or maybe the loads were actually a touch hotter than what it was regulated with. In either case, it grouped nicely.

That's it for now; more on the cast-bullet loads when I've got time and spare consciousness.

and it's a good one.The controversial OSHA nominee and left-leaning public health advocate also seems to have strong views on firearms issues. That’s by no means irrelevant to the agenda of an agency like OSHA, because once you start viewing private gun ownership as a public health menace, it begins to seem logical to use the powers of government to urge or even require employers to forbid workers from possessing guns on company premises, up to and including parking lots, ostensibly for the protection of co-workers. In addition, OSHA has authority to regulate the working conditions of various job categories associated with firearms use (security guards, hunting guides, etc.) and could in that capacity do much to bring grief to Second Amendment values.

The article linked on his 'strong views' is about what we've come to expect: dancing in the blood of crime victims to try to trash the 2nd Amendment.

Friday, August 14, 2009

piece of crap who helped destroy Flight 103.Tripoli - The wife of ailing Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi said on Thursday she had been assured by Libyan authorities that he would be released soon.

"The authorities tell me only that he should be freed soon," Aisha Megrahi told reporters, adding that she had not been given a specific date.

Earlier reports said he is to be freed from a British jail next week in time for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in on August 21 in Libya....The Scottish government said it was weighing up whether to free the prostate cancer sufferer on compassionate grounds and whether to transfer him home to a jail in Libya, with a decision likely before the end of August.Oh, hell, he only helped blow up an airliner full of people, can't we be a little sensitive toward this poor cancer sufferer? Like, leave him locked in solitary with no pain meds?

Not very well.DIY GUNS TERRORGangsters make lethal weapons from copper pipes, cigarette lighters and bike pumps

Norman Silvester Exclusive

THESE are the shocking DIY lethal weapons built from step-by-step blueprints uncovered by Sunday Mail investigators.

We can reveal half of the guns seized in Scotland were home-made or replica firearms turned into deadly weapons by gangsters.

Most are being manufactured from guides that are freely available or copied from American based internet sites.I know you can already see where part of this is going, but for now let's stick to the weapons themselves:A 10-year-old German starting pistol was turned into a self-loading pistol.

A rifle made from copper using igniters from cigarette lighters and a bicycle pump, pierces metal with ammo made out of nails.

A "micro-gun" made from a pill bottle and pen case fires .22inch pellets.But that's ILLEGAL!!We found more than 2000 websites explain how to make rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers. Some also supply the parts by air mail.

One site says: "You don't need a fancy machine shop or knowledge of chemistry to make the guns covered here. All you need are ordinary hand tools."

Another gave easy-to-follow instructions on building a 9mm submachine gun in a week using an electric drill, file, hacksaw and hammer.

And one boasts: "Build your own 9mm, blowback, selective-fire submachine gun that's as powerful as an Uzi or HK MP5 but has fewer parts and is more durable. Simply follow the step-by-step instructions."

When finished, the duplicate guns are capable of firing 10 bullets a second and look almost identical to Israeli and German-made originals.Here's where the "We must ban guns!" attitude runs into the Wall of Reality: a lot of guns are fairly simple machines that don't require a machine shop to make.

And here's a critical point:A spokesman for the National Criminal Intelligence Service said: "The purchase of firearm components via the internet may change the nature and scale of the threat from criminals in the UK.

"The apparent ease with which such firearms are acquired has led them to being described as an entry level firearm for criminals who do not yet have the contacts to buy a real one."Translation: "Once they have the contacts they can buy just about anything." So much for the ban, huh?

And now, getting to what the nannies have in mind,Campaigners want the Government to pass tough measures to regulate the internet. Gill Marshall-Andrews, chairwoman of the Gun Control Network, said: "Legislation has to evolve as technology and modes of communication evolve. We are concerned about these websites."Yeah, you knew that was coming. "This is unauthorized knowledge, and you should not be allowed to see it because you're an untrustworthy peasant. Never mind the criminals don't obey the laws, YOU cannot be allowed to see things we don't like."The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland want a ban on air weapons which can be converted into real guns, in particular the Remington Derringer and Brocock air pistol which can be altered to fire live rounds.Laws upon laws upon laws, "If it doesn't work this time, do it again only harder!" as Kevin says, and somehow the PFM will occur and unicorns will dance in the garden, etc.

Here's the close:It is illegal in Britain to own a gun or any gun parts without a licence. It is also against the law to attempt to build a firearm or activate a replica.

Even people with a licence must inform the police if they intend to buy gun parts.

Anyone who wants to make guns legally must apply for a licence from the Home Office and be subject to stringent investigation.And yet the criminals just keep breaking these laws. And the bureaucrats enact more laws that still won't work, but will give them even more power over the lives of the subjects, all in the name of 'public safety' and "It's for the CHILDREN!"

of them. First this one:Frank Kratovil and Tom Perriello, who as freshmen congressmen would be expected to back the party leadership, both say proposals for expanding coverage to the uninsured are un­acceptable in their current form and should focus more on cost savings.No, they should not be 'expected to back party leadership'; they're supposed to go by what the people who elected them say. That so many 'expect' them to back the party leadership- the implication is 'no matter what'- is one of the damn problems in DC.

Second,Billed as a chance to sell healthcare reform to the American people in small meetings across the country, the town hall debates have seen protesters screaming at their elected representatives.

In spite of hopes by proponents of reform that voters would be turned off by the sometimes ugly scenes, a poll yesterday from USA Today gave an indication that the debates were having the opposite effect.

Some 34 per cent of respondents said the demonstrations had made them more sympathetic to the protesters, while 21 per cent said they were less sympathetic. In the all-important independents grouping, 35 per cent against 16 per cent said they were now more sympathetic to the protesters – a margin of more than two to one.The 'sometimes ugly scenes' are generally occasioned by elected representatives treating their constituents- you know, the voters who elect them?- like an annoyance; and then acting shocked and getting mad when their bosses don't do what they're being told to, when they won't like what the 'party leadership' tells them to like. And, thanks to this here internet, a lot more people are getting the facts about this than would have in the past. This news story basically says 'nasty people are yelling and mistreating their noble representatives in Congress' with no note of why people are 'mistreating' the clowns.

A misunderstanding of what congressmen are supposed to to, and an incomplete story; but at least some of the story is getting out there, even in major media.

getting the department and county in big trouble:The ACLU today filed a federal lawsuit against Allegheny County and University of Pittsburgh police, alleging that officers arrested a Pittsburgh man for using his cell phone to record an interaction between officers and one of his friends.

Elijah Matheny, of the Hill District, was arrested on April 29 and charged with violating Pennsylvania wiretapping laws. Police said he recorded an incident without officers' permission.As I recall, there was a case a couple of years ago in which the Supreme Court ruled on this; they said flatly that a LE officer in public has no expectation of privacy while performing his duties, and that includes people can take pictures or video. That's settled, so this was a surprise to read:The county is named in the suit because after the initial arrest, officers called the Allegheny County District Attorney's office to find out if charges should be pursued. The on-duty prosecutor gave the go-ahead.Then the on-duty prosecutor was either uninformed or a fool.

Considering how many LE vehicles have cameras and voice recorders set up to tape every stop and so forth, kind of amazing how many officers get bent out of shape over someone without a badge taking pics; the only thing I can think of is that they know they don't have control of those recordings, so...

as Kim used to say, this time from- of all places- New York Effing City:They strode into the restaurant supply store in Harlem shortly after 3 p.m. on Thursday, four young men intent on robbery, one with a Glock 9-millimeter pistol, the police said. The place may have looked like an easy mark, a high-cash business with an owner in his 70s, known as a gentle, soft-spoken man.

But Charles Augusto Jr., the 72-year-old proprietor of the Kaplan Brothers Blue Flame Corporation, at 523 West 125th Street, near Amsterdam Avenue, had been robbed several times before, despite the fact that his shop is around the corner from the 26th Precinct station house on West 126th Street....Watching it happen, Mr. Augusto, whom neighborhood friends call Gus, rose from a chair 20 to 30 feet away and took out a loaded Winchester 12-gauge pump-action shotgun with a pistol-grip handle. The police said he bought it after a robbery 30 years ago....The first shot took down the gunman at the front. He died almost immediately, according to the police, who said he was 29 and had been arrested for gun possession in Queens last year and was the nephew of a police officer.

Mr. Augusto’s other two blasts hit all three accomplices, who stumbled out the door, bleeding.Considering he's probably not had a lot of practice, not bad shooting at all.

As to the wonderful efficiency of the NYFC gun control laws that we're supposed to love the idea of, the one with the Glock was 29 and had been arrested for gun possession in Queens last year and was the nephew of a police officer. The other deceased The police said he had a record of arrests for weapons possession and robbery. No word on what kind of choirboys the two wounded are.

One thing about this that I admit surprised me was the reported words of relatives of the dead; not the usual "He never did anything wrong!" and such, but- in a fine illustration of what clowns like this do to those who care about them,“Oh my God!” she wailed. “Why would they want to rob a store?” She started to scream: “Damn! Why? Why would he go to a family store? He got money!” She slumped against the wall and began to pray.Let's say she was unaware of the previous arrests and this was a shock; how would you comfort someone who just found out a guy they cared about was dead because he tried to rob someone? Not exactly an easy job.

As to the gentleman with the scattergun,A law enforcement official said that the district attorney was considering a possible misdemeanor weapons charge against Mr. Augusto, indicating that he did not have a permit for the shotgun.Or it could mean the DA is one of those jerks who wants to file for something, no matter what. We'll see.

a wanker.Agents told Kessler that Jimmy Carter treated them and others who served him with utter disdain.

"Inside the White House, Carter treated with contempt the little people who helped and protected him," and told agents not to look at him or speak to him — even to say hello — when he went to the Oval Office, Kessler disclosed.

"For three and a half years, agent John Piasecky was on Carter's detail — including seven months of driving him in the presidential limousine — and Carter never spoke to him, he says.

"At the same time, Carter tried to project an image of himself as man of the people by carrying his own luggage when traveling. But that was often for show. When he was a candidate in 1976, Carter would carry his own bags when the press was around but ask the Secret Service to carry them the rest of the time."...As president, Carter needed to have the "nuclear football" at hand to enable him to take action in case of a nuclear attack.

But the president — code-named Deacon — refused to allow a military aide with the nuclear football to stay in a trailer on his property in Plains. The aide had to stay in Americus, a 15-minute drive from Carter's home, a top military official confirmed to Kessler....The Carters never really understood the Secret Service's role, Kessler asserts.

He reveals that Carter told the Secret Service that Rosalynn objected to agents and uniformed officers being armed inside the White House. Rosalynn said guns made the Carters' daughter, Amy, "uncomfortable." Agents explained that in the event of an attack, they would be useless if they were not armed. The president relented.

After leaving the White House, Carter made a show that he was going to save the taxpayers' money by not keeping the Secret Service. But he soon brought agents back when he discovered that having federal agents along got him express service at airports and the like.

who wants the Oval Office so bad she practically ovulates at the thought: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared Nigeria’s corruption and electoral problems with the 2000 Florida presidential election recount during a town hall meeting today in Abuja, Nigeria.

Answering a question about Nigeria’s recent election, Clinton said, “In 2000, our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of the man running for President was the governor of the state. So we have our problems too.”

and the socialists in Congress, want to shove down our throats:Neither end of the political spectrum will care much for what Ezra Klein wrote yesterday about the state of play for ObamaCare:

A bit later today, I’ll be putting up an interview with Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House’s Office of Health Reform. But there’s a particular argument that I want to focus on. “When you step back,” she told me, “there is broad agreement about 85 percent of what we’re talking about.”

You hear this a lot from the White House. In fact, you hear it often enough that it’s tempting to think it untrue. But it’s very true. And in this moment of violent town halls and ferocious controversy, it’s worth remembering.

Here are the things that, broadly speaking, legislators agree about: insurance market reforms, including community rating, guaranteed issue, an end to rescission, an end to discrimination based on preexisting conditions, and an individual mandate. Subsidies for low-income Americans. Delivery system reforms. Health insurance exchanges. An expansion of coverage to about 95 percent of legal residents. Prevention and wellness policies. Retaining and strengthening the employer-based insurance market. Creating some kind of incentive for employers to offer, and keep offering, health benefits. Expanding Medicaid to about 133 percent of poverty.

The Left does not like reading it because the see the White House laying a foundation for declaring victory on some bill that lacks the most odious components of the Democrats’ proposals, particularly a government-run insurance plan.

The Right should not like it because the so-called insurance market reforms still amount to government-run health care, as everyone from Keith Hennessey to Michael Kinsley acknowledges.

because of the crap in it? Guess what?The Department of Homeland Security had no particular groups or individuals under investigation and used no collected data on "right-wing extremists" threatening national security to create the report. Rather, they just read news articles from the main stream media like MSNBC and CNN (and sometimes not-so-mainstream media like the "Vernon County Broadcaster"). However, by far the most frequent source for the report was articles and blog posts from the Southern Poverty Law Center, according to a FOIA response obtained by Americans for Limited Government.Remember that group? The one that told us all through the 90's about how the militia movement was racist and planning to overthrow the government? And did they mention we're all racists?From the list, it looks like they had some interns google articles and grab a bunch from the SLPC. Then somebody wrote up a hit-job on the Right because...well, we don't know who wrote it or who directed that it be created or when. That information was not in the FOIA disclosure.

At least we know why the report was so short (only ten pages) and unprofessional (no citations to sources). It took no specialized knowledge or skill to create. Just an internet connection and a desire to brand the Right as fringe and dangerous. Remember that we might not even know about the report if members of local law enforcement hadn't leaked it. And it was conveniently timed to coincide with the Tea Parties in April.Yeah, but that was purely coincidence, don't you know?

Woman went to meeting, said she was a doctor. Except she's not; and some of the media 'reporting' on this didn't think it worth mentioning she was an Obama delegate, either:UPDATE: The reporter who wrote the Houston Chronicle story apparently knew that Mayer was an Obama delegate, but didn’t include that detail in her story. Commenter mike in houston says that he wrote reporter Cindy Horswell and received the following response:

This is the name and occupation that she gave when she spoke at the public meeting. She also told me that she was an Obama state delegate and been notified of the meeting by email and did not live in Lee’s district. I have since been trying to see if she misrepresented herself. There is someone by the same name who lists herself as a graduate student and sociologist intern at a Houston council on drugs and alcohol…but that person no longer works there. And do not know if this is the sme person. She may also be a visiting doctor from another state…..Am interested in any information that anyone might have. Best regards, Cindy Horswell

Sorry, Ms. Horswell, she’s not a visiting doctor from another state. And you should have told us she was an Obama delegate.

UPDATE x2: Just to be clear, Mayer specifically represented herself as a “pediatric primary care physician” to the Houston Chronicle, which didn’t bother to check it out, and gave her comments extra weight as a supposed “physician”:

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

a couple of days ago, and I've been thinking about some of the bits I've heard from it(which proved he really is a sphincter, but there wasn't really any question about that). And I think it's(among other things) proof of the mistake of letting these clowns stay in office too long. It causes them to take that 'Most Exclusive Club In The World' crap about the Senate seriously, which leads to all kinds of other nonsense. Like thinking they are the nobles of the country and us peasants should shut up and let them rule.

Think about this jerk standing in front of the people who vote and saying I could be somewhere else. I don’t get any extra pay — I don’t have any requirement to be here. But for somebody –

CROWD: [Angry murmuring] You work for us! You report to us!

SPECTER: Okay, okay, number — well, I am reporting to you...Specter apparently doesn't think that the does work for those people who vote; otherwise he'd realize there IS a requirement for him to be there; any employee is required to answer to the boss when there are questions, or a problem with his job performance, but Specter and a whole lot of other politicians have forgotten that. They're so used to pulling crap like the per diem scam that's come out(I wonder how much of our money these thieves have stolen over the years with this alone?), to having the others cover for them(think the tax evaders like Dodd and Rangel will ever actually face justice?) that they really think we should all stay out of their way and shut up; remember that video of Rangel telling someone to 'mind his own goddamn business'?

And now they've managed to piss off a lot of people enough that they're taking time from work or from home and raising hell about it. And how do a lot of these bozos react? By insulting the people, by threatening them, in some cases by having union thugs show up to threaten and beat people.Meet Elston K. McCowan. McCowan is a one-time organizer, and now the Public Service Director of SEIU Local 2000. He is also a board member of the Walbridge Community Education Center in St. Louis., Allegedly a Baptist minister he has been a community organizer for more than 23 years. Last year, he ran for Mayor of the City of St. Louis under the Green Party banner, during which time he accused the Democrat Mayor of setting fire to his van and called Slay a racist.

Funny.

It was Elston McCowan who accosted Ken Gladney, who is also black, at the Carnahan town meeting in St. Louis Thursday night with the words, “Why is a nigger handing out ‘Don’t tread on me’ flags?"

Shortly after that, McCowan and several other SEIU thugs and Carnahan supporters ganged up on Ken Gladney and beat him so badly they put him in the hospital with injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face. McCowan has since been arrested by the St. Louis police for assaulting Gladney.These are the bastards the current administration calls on to try to force an unpopular bill down our throats. When they're not calling us unAmerican for daring to protest, when they're not packing the audience and playing games with the media to stir things up. When they're not calling us political terrorists for daring to speak out.

At this point, I think we not only need term limits, we need to start the limits on a bunch of them with tar and feathers.

Whoda thunk such a thing? Summary: Many firearms companies are struggling to comply with California's 2006 mandate that all new handgun models include a loaded chamber indicator and a mechanism that prevents firing when a magazine is removed.

In the more than three years since, just one new semiautomatic model has been approved by the state. Two others are pending, Gasparac said.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. is the only gun maker to date that has overcome that hurdle. The company's general counsel said he has “grave concerns” about whether microstamping is feasible.

“The problem I have with this is it can't be done,” said Kevin Reid, Ruger's general counsel. “The legislation says it has to work 100 percent of the time and there is nobody, nobody including Todd Lizotte himself, who would say it will always work.”

Several studies, including one done by the University of California Davis, have concluded the process needs further review, that it appears to work better on some guns than others.Well, golly gee, what do you know about that? But, of course, the inventor says even in situations where only a partial code may be legible, it could still be invaluable – much like a partial fingerprint or license plate number – in cracking a crime. Yeah. That's a helpful thought, isn't it? And(of course) from the Brady water-carrier who pushed this crap in the first place, For Feuer, the time has come to move past the debate and implement the law.

“The bottom line is this technology is going to help put criminals behind bars,” he said. “We should do it.”Sounds familiar, doesn't it? "Ignore the problems, we have to do it NOW!!!"

your computer becomes "Property of the U.S. government". As Tam says, Seriously, Cletus, how did you think people were going to react when they read that? The funny part is how this is being treated in the media. Or not treated, actually. Can you imagine if this had happened while Ashcroft was AG? zomg you'd be able to hear the howls of the Kossacks across half of cyberspace...

to borrow from Steely Dan:BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today filed a lawsuit on behalf of three residents of the District of Columbia and a New Hampshire resident, seeking to compel the city to issue carry permits to law-abiding citizens.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Tom Palmer, George Lyon and Amy McVey, all District residents, and Edward Raymond, a New Hampshire resident. SAF and the individual plaintiffs are being represented by attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller case in 2008 that overturned the District’s handgun ban on the grounds that it was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

"You know you're wrong for that poster, right?" The lady asked, eyeing Representative Bobby Rush's face under the prominent words "I Sold Out to White Politicians . . . ." It didn't surprise Illinois Carry representative "Dr. G" that she took offense; the poster is obviously meant to be too provocative to ignore. What's surprising, he says, is the number of people at a Chicago event who made a point of signing his petition for concealed carry reform. He wasn't at a gun show or a gun-rights rally, after all. For only the second year, Illinois gun rights groups including the ISRA, Illinois Carry, and the Second Amendment Sisters, joined by civil rights group CORE Chicago, had purchased space at the Black Women's Expo in Chicago.

another problem with the program(that's been pointed out before) is thatThey destroy the engine and tranny, andNo parts from the 'clunker' are allowed to be used; all have to be crushed.Which means that what is in many cases a running vehicle that could have been sold to someone who can't afford a new car is trashed; cost of used cars will go up. AND by destroying it all, a source of parts is gone; which means someone who needs a part, or a running engine or transmission will have a harder time getting them.

Here's a more, ah, 'stylish' way of putting it from Velociman:You poor people who voted for Obama? He just fucked you again. Poor people can't afford $500 car payments even with a $4500 taxpayer bailout. All those "clunkers"? They were traditionally immediately auctioned into the bottom rungs of the used car market. High school and college kids looking for a first car? Poor folk who can only afford a $500 to $1500 car, where the dealer carries the paper and you pay him weekly because your credit resembles that of the Weimar Republic circa 1922? You're boned, Patsy....A government that purposefully destroys perfectly serviceable consumer goods, inexpensive goods that most benefit the poorest and most desperate members of society, is a government gone so fucking mad it makes the ravings of tertiary syphilis look wholesome in comparison.

This singular act belies any affectation of good faith, compassion, or humanity this craven and diabolical regime presumes. Barack Obama would rather have poor people beggar a damn ride to work, or walk holes in their shoes, than drive an affordable vehicle that does not meet his arbitrary and capricious definition of environmental friendliness.

I work in a county full of poor country sods, black and white. Almost to a person they drive "clunkers". And there is a reason they drive pickup trucks from the sixties, seventies, eighties. And it's not for ironic reasons, or because they enjoy driving a "classic". It's because they bought that truck when they were 25 years old, and have babied it their entire lives and they never want to buy another vehicle, unless it's to buy mama a Buick when she's 65 to drive to the Publix and the hairdresser once a week. These poor bastards just had a goodly amount of the affordable vehicle market yanked out from under their feet by a megalomaniacal prick.

I suppose King Barack I wants them to ride public transportation. Well, they don't have fucking buses in the country, or the small towns. That's an urban construct designed to help enslave the city proles. Hamlet proles need a cheap car, you miserable wretches.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

which took an hour out of the day which means something else didn't get done... and I still can't be sure how it wound up where it did. So now, I return you to my bitching about the news.

California won't accept the IOUs it issued. Which means, to me, they're worthless.Small businesses that received $682 million in IOUs from the state say California expects them to pay taxes on the worthless scraps of paper, but refuses to accept its own IOUs to pay debts or taxes. The vendors’ federal class action claims the state is trying to balance its budget on their backs.

Lead plaintiff Nancy Baird filled her contract with California to provide embroidered polo shirts to a youth camp run by the National Guard, but never was paid the $27,000 she was owed. She says California “paid” her with an IOU that two banks refused to accept - yet she had to pay California sales tax on the so-called “sale” of the uniforms.California screws up the finances to badly they 'pay' people with IOUs, but CA government won't accept them in payment of taxes. And Barney Frank & Co. are hoping to set up a precedent by the feds using our money to bail the clowns in CA out so when MA is ready to collapse the same way, it'll be easier for Frank to loot all of us to bail MA out. Which he and the other leeches think woill be easier than actually showing some fiscal responsibility.

Oh yeah, the socialized medicine union thugs just love free expression of views, don'tthey? I wonder how they'll like it when people start actively and obviously taking stills and video of them?

"You don't trust me?" HELL no. She must be getting more than slightly nervous by now; add a flat "You are not trustworthy" to everything else and she knows she's got problems.

Want a chart of the real costs of the Cap and Tax bill Waxman is just about to have a stroke trying to force through?* Increase gas prices 58% above the increases included in the baseline forecast. * Increase electricity prices by 90%. * Raise energy costs for an average family of four by $1,241 per year. * Cause the average family of four to pay $4,609 more per year, including increased taxes. * Reduce GDP by an aggregate amount of $9.4 trillion. * Increase the national debt by an additional $12,803 per person.They don't have a line for the rise in the cost of rope, but we'll get there if this crap every comes close to going through.

No, the administration wouldn't actually try to track people for improper reasons. Would they?

Sailor Curt calls it the Gun Show Prevention Act, HR2324, which includes(37) Gun Show Vendor- The term `gun show vendor' means a person who is not licensed under section 923 and who exhibits, sells, offers for sale, transfers, or exchanges a firearm at a gun show, regardless of whether or not the person arranges with the gun show operator for a fixed location from which to exhibit, sell, offer for sale, transfer, or exchange the firearm.Which means anyone who walks in the door and might sell or buy or trade a firearm. And, to make it even worse, (1) IN GENERAL- It shall be unlawful for a person to operate a gun show, unless the person--

(A) not later than 30 days before the commencement of the gun show, notifies the Attorney General, in writing, of the date, time, duration, and location of the gun show, and the identity of each person who will be a gun show vendor at the gun show;Take those two together and it's a plan to end gun shows, period. You know, one of those attacks on gun owners we've been assured the Democrats don't plan to make?

One last observation: all the bitching and whining and name-calling(especially "Anything that is against Obama is RACIST!!!!") reminded me of the mess after the 2000 election. Specifically, when one Florida county was starting another 'recount', but this one was going to be behind locked doors with nobody but the Democrat election board members allowed to observe. A bunch of Republicans outside rightly had a bloody fit, word spread, and they scared the board into opening the recount to observers. Among the 'observations' from the media and liberals was some asshat stating that there was 'a whiff of fascism in the air'. Because a bunch of people from the 'wrong' party raised hell about a flatly BAD action by the 'right'-party dominated election board.

This shit isn't new, it's just that instead of in a few isolated places there are people- of both parties and none, let us remember- raising hell with ALL the jackass politicians trying to shove this massive pile of crap down our throats, and the Evil Party minions, the Stupid Party 'we must get along with the other side' fools and the media are freaking. And, as has been said before, it's liable to get ugly. But maybe, just maybe, we can get the idea across before some union thug or other socialist moron touches off a real bloody mess. I hope so.

and today's 40% has turned into 'raining off & on all morning'. Range I'd thought of is definitely out; even if it hadn't kept coming down, walking to the target stands would be wading through a swamp after last night. So,The American Psychological Association apparently should lose its not-for-profit status if this is how they usually conduct meetings:"The introduction to Westen’s session was a real eye-opener. The moderator was so confident everyone in the room was a staunch Democrat that he jokingly interrupted his disclaimer that the APA couldn’t be seen as endorsing any particular political party with repeated exhortations of “Barack!” (You might think I’m kidding, but I’m not.) Party unity thus assured, the session began.

A brief video of an embarrassing Jennifer Lopez-inspired slip of the tongue by Fox newscaster Shepard Smith led to Westen’s first key point: the general public associates the word liberal with negative connotations that, (he confidently assured us), were untrue—elite, tax and spend, out of touch, big government. The word conservative, on the other hand, had no negative associations.

Hold on a minute. Has Westen studied this? If so, why didn’t he present the results so we could judge for ourselves? It would be interesting to analyze Westen’s own word linkages. As he spoke, I heard the word conservative disdainfully associated with racist, intolerant, and narrow-minded."

So on top of assault and so forth, Gladney is going to file hate crime charges against the thugs who attacked him. First, if you're going to have these idiot 'hate crime' laws, then you better be prepared to enforce them against ANYBODY, any color, any religion, any politics, if they violate said law. Second, I wonder how the lefty clowns will handle this? After all Gladney is a conservative, so that's probably considered- by them- to disqualify him as 'black', so calling him a nigger, which the thugs did, will be seen as no big deal to a lot of them.Allman in the Morning at 97.1 FM Talk Radio reported today that Kenneth Gladney, the man who was beaten by Russ Carnahan-supporting SEIU thugs after a town hall meeting last Thursday, will file hate crime charges against his attackers. 5 people were arrested at the town hall meeting after the public beating of Gladney. At least one of the Leftist attackers called him a n**ger before pummeling him.(I have a question: when you're speaking of a straight news story like this, reporting what the attackers said, why the ** stuff?)

Ed Koch is having problems with the socialized medicine scheme. He seems to be working real hard to give Obama the benefit of the doubt on everything, but after his own health problems the health-care takeover scheme is worrying him just a bit.

'Rationing By Any Other Name' is still rationing. What we currently have- except where the government has helped to screw things around- is that if your insurance for some reason won't cover a treatment, you have to pay for it yourself or find some other assistance, but nobody is saying you can't have the treatment; if the government is in charge of health care(far more than they're involved now), then some bureaucrat or formula says you can't have it, then YOU CANNOT HAVE IT.But there is also a real difference between having something rationed by a process and having it rationed by a person. That is, in fact, why progressives are so fond of rules. They don't want to tell grandma to take morphine instead of getting a pacemaker. It's much nicer if you create a mathematical formula that makes some doctor tell grandma to take morphine instead of getting a pacemaker. Then the doctor can disclaim responsibility too, because after all, no one really has any agency here--we're all just in the grips of an impersonal force.

But this won't do. If you design a formula to deny granny a pacemaker, knowing that this is the intent of the formula, then you've killed granny just as surely as if you'd ordered the doctor to do it directly. That's the intuition behind the conservative resistance to switching from price rationing to fiat rationing. Using the government's coercive power to decide the price of something, or who ought to get it, is qualitatively different from the same outcome arising out of voluntary actions in the marketplace. Even if you don't share the value judgement, it's not irrational, except in the sense that all human decisions have an element of intuition and emotion baked into them.

It seems the weenies in Congress are listening to the screaming about their deciding to buy more luxury planes for themselves at the same time they're cutting funding for a bunch of F22 fighters we actually need.Yet when the Pentagon-spending bill was taken up by the House, first in the Defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, then the full committee, and finally on the chamber floor, the executive-plane provision attracted no notice and no opposition emerged from either side of the aisle.”Which is why so many of us are considering the therapeutic effect of a neck stretching for about 90% of both Houses; they're so busy scratching each others' backs they just don't even think about a lot of this crap anymore; just vote themselves more perks and payoffs and bribes and then get upset when we take notice of it.

Obama's little dictator in charge of setting pay for some executives is running into that wall of reality.

The sky is clearing, the sun is shining, which means it's going to get nasty-level humid in an hour or so. And in a day or two I'll have to mow again, because I can damn near hear the grass growing out there.

The Word on the White House Snitch Program:Some words from Mark Steyn:A lot of the developed world has already gone quite a long way down this road. If you want to know what Obama’s pledge to “save or create” four million jobs would look like if the stimulus weren’t a total bust, consider what “good news” means in an Obama-sized state: A couple of years back, I happened to catch an intriguing headline up north. “The Canadian economy is picking up steam,” reported the CBC. Statistics Canada had just announced that “the economy added 56,100 new jobs, two-thirds of them full time.” That’s great news, isn’t it? Why, the old economy’s going gangbusters, stand well back.

But I was interested to know just what sectors these jobs had been created in. And, upon investigation, it emerged that, of those 56,100 new jobs, 4,200 were self-employed, 8,900 were in private businesses, and the remaining 43,000 were on the public payroll. “The economy” hadn’t added those jobs; the government had: that's why they call it “creating” jobs. Seventy-seven per cent of the new jobs were government jobs, or “jobs”, paid for by the poor schlubs working away in the remaining 23 per cent. So the “good news” was just more bad news, just a further transfer from the vital dynamic sector to the state.

In Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, government spending accounts for between 72 and 78 per cent of the economy, and, as I wrote here earlier this year, that’s “about the best a ‘free’ society can hope to attain this side of complete Sovietization.” But, if you’re not on welfare, working in the welfare office or working for a “green solutions” company that’s landed the government contract for printing the recycled envelopes in which the welfare checks are mailed out, it’s not an attractive society to be in. It’s not a place to run a small business – a feed store or a plumbing company or anything innovative, all of which will be taxed and regulated into supporting that seventysomething per cent. After all, what does it matter if your business goes under? Either you’ll join the government workforce, or you’ll go on the dole. So you too will become part of the dependent class, or the class that’s dependent upon the dependent class. Either way, Big Government wins (as we already see in California).

Various people have noted the way the left and the major media are again using the 'RACIST!' accusation to try to shut people up. Generally, not only is it not working but it's really ticking people off.

The other day we had one of those 'moments where a politician tells the truth while lying to you' about the socialized medicine scheme:

CONSTITUENT: My question to you, Congresswoman Tsongas, is that if this is such a great plan, why did you opt out of it when you took the vote [loud applause, standing ovation]?

TSONGAS: People often say why don’t the American people have what those of us in Congress have. [Audience erupts] Let me explain what I have. Let me explain what I have. What I have is a tremendous array — you know, last year when I went to a discussion — what I have is a tremendous array of choices. And I made a choice based on what I was willing to pay for and what made sense in terms of coverage for me and my family. [Audience shouts out: "We want choice! We want choice!] This is essentially what we are creating for the American people. We are creating greater choice.

Let's see, the weasels in Congress get to choose among a number of insurance plans, NONE of them government-run so far as I know, but Tsongas considers forcing us to take government-run medicine 'creating greater choice'? How the hell does a supposedly intelligent someone stand in front of a crowd and lie to them like this? With a straight face?

The bills in both houses require that Americans purchase insurance through “qualified” plans offered by health-care “exchanges” that would be set up in each state. The rub is that the plans can’t really compete based on what they offer. The reason: The federal government will impose a minimum list of benefits that each plan is required to offer.

Today, many states require these “standard benefits packages” — and they’re a major cause for the rise in health-care costs. Every group, from chiropractors to alcohol-abuse counselors, do lobbying to get included. Connecticut, for example, requires reimbursement for hair transplants, hearing aids, and in vitro fertilization.

The Senate bill would require coverage for prescription drugs, mental-health benefits, and substance-abuse services. It also requires policies to insure “children” until the age of 26. That’s just the starting list. The bills would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to add to the list of required benefits, based on recommendations from a committee of experts. Americans, therefore, wouldn’t even know what’s in their plans and what they’re required to pay for, directly or indirectly, until after the bills become law.

Damn, there's a lot going on out there. More later, assuming I don't get lost in the piles of crap stuff I need to clean up or put away.

Monday, August 10, 2009

to have it pointed out "There was no coup."In a welcome about-face, the State Department told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in a letter Tuesday that the U.S. would no longer threaten sanctions on Honduras for ousting its president, Mel Zelaya, last June 28.

Nor will it insist on Zelaya's return to power. As it turns out, the U.S. Senate can't find any legal reason why the Honduran Supreme Court's refusal to let Zelaya stay in office beyond the time allowed by Honduran law constitutes a "military coup."Well, geez, it took them this damn long to decide that? We have a real bunch of geniuses up there in DC, don't we?

Sunday, August 09, 2009

I present another in a series of Using Power Tools In Cleaning Your Gun.

Yes, some of you are either uttering profanities or calling me names. Stop it. You can actually do this without causing damage, wear or display of stupidity.

In this case, I'm speaking of a cordless drill or driver and a chamber brush. Because sometimes you wind up with fouling in the chamber that just does not want to clean out, especially on something old that hasn't been cleaned in a long time.

Start out with the standard: a bronze or nylon brush and your favorite cleaner or solvent, and make sure any loose crud, normal fouling, etc., is cleaned out. Usually scrubbing a brush back & forth a few times, with some twists, will take care of things, then use a jag and patches to clean it out.

If you've got stubborn spots that don't want to clean out, chuck the brush into your drill/driver, soak in solvent, oil or whatever*. Start it turning slowly and work it into the chamber, then back & forth a few times while turning. With a revolver or double-barrel repeat in the other chambers, adding more cleaner as needed. And then let it sit a while; give the stuff time to work. With the brush to work the stuff into the fouling it'll have an easier time breaking it loose. After a while, damp the brush and work it again, then clean with jag & patches and inspect.

That's it. You can repeat if needed. The only advantage this has over doing it by hand is saving wear on your hand & wrist by letting the drill rotate the brush for you. And keep the speed DOWN; you're not trying to drill, just using the tool to rotate the brush for you.

*Most any bore cleaner will work for this. Blue Wonder is really good for this type of cleaning, and a lot of people swear by Kroil; that stuff is the creepiest oil you'll ever see, it can penetrate under most crap and make it easy to remove.

For lead fouling(think firing lots of .38 Special ammo in a .357 Mag chamber) I've hear of people taking apart a copper pot-scrubbing pad(I think it's Chore Boy) and winding a few of the copper strips into the brush to make it more aggressive. If you try that, make damn sure it's a pure copper pad.

Giving member's money to The One? Sucking up to the socialists? Beating up people who have the nerve to disagree with what Obama and his Flying Monkeys want?

Two things are liable to happen: One is that some thugs are going to attack somebody and find out the hard way that a lot of these states have CCW laws. Oops.Second is the survivors and the union and Pelosi & Co. are going to scream and yell that the tea party protesters are committing murder, etc. And with the major media on their side, that's all a lot of people will hear.

This is liable to get REAL nasty. And I think Obama will like it that way. For a while.

E-mail me

at elmtreeforge at att point net

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. - C.S. Lewis

Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave. - Capt. Mal

A Rifleman’s Prayer:Oh Lord, I would live my life in freedom, peace and happiness, enjoying the simple pleasures of hearth and home. I would die an old, old man in my own bed, preferably of sexual overexertion.

But if that is not to be, Lord, if monsters such as this should find their way to my little corner of the world on my watch, then help me to sweep those bastards from the ramparts, because doing that is good, and right, and just.

And if in this I should fall, let me be found atop a pile of brass, behind the wall I made of their corpses. Geek with a .45

"He's Black Council,", I said.

"Or maybe stupid," Ebenezar countered.

I thought about it. "Not sure which is scarier."

Ebenezar blinked at me, then snorted. "Stupid, Hoss. Every time. Only so many blackhearted villains in the world, and they only get uppity on occasion. Stupid's everywhere, every day." Ebenezar McCoy

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” ― Rudyard Kipling

This deprecation of individual freedom was objectionable to me. I am convinced now, as I was then, that man is an end because he is a child of God. Man is not made for the state; the state is made for man. To deprive man of freedom is to relegate him to the status of a thing, rather than elevate him to the status of a person. Man must never be treated as means to the end of the state; but always as an end within himself." Dr. M.L. King Jr.